Preparation Method for Prayer Writers

A few days in advance from the weekend, find a place and time free from distraction, preferably 15 minutes minimum. Set the coming weekend’s Gospel passage and be seated in a relaxed way. You may want to have a journal at hand. After a few moments to catch your breath, begin with a prayer. Ask God for insight and grace.

Read the Gospel passage to yourself aloud–slowly, quietly to yourself. Pause for fifteen to sixty seconds. Perhaps a word, phrase, or an idea will come to mind. Write it down, but don’t try to analyze or justify it in any way.

Read the passage a second time, slowly and aloud. Perhaps something will strike you. Pause during the reading, when this happens. Perhaps for up to a minute. Consider this question: what may God be saying to you in this Scripture passage? Write down one or two sentences.

Look over the passage again, reading it aloud again if you wish. At the end, ponder what God may be trying to tell the parish through this reading? What prayers are suggested in the lives of our parishioners, through these readings, and in the world this week?

If you are intense about this process, you could repeat on other days for the other two readings or even the psalm. The Gospel and the words of Jesus especially are what most people listen for at Mass and make their connections, so make that your minimum aim.

Write out the prayers, using the reflections from your prayer time with the Gospel and other readings.